


How Not to Cook Cardassian Root Vegetables

by AuroraNova



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 07:07:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17178209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AuroraNova/pseuds/AuroraNova
Summary: Garak really has to be more careful about comparing Cardassian produce to Terran. It's giving Julian bad ideas.





	How Not to Cook Cardassian Root Vegetables

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for pure, self-indulgent fluff. =)

Garak could have said the City Council meeting ran late, but he’d attended enough now to know that wasn’t accurate. It went as long as usual, and the scheduled end time was simply wrong.

When he’d decided to enter local politics, he hadn’t counted on it being quite so draining to treat imbeciles as though they were equals. One began to see the appeal of ruling alone. Still, better this style of governance than allowing another deranged egotist like Dukat to lead Cardassia into utter ruin. They were already perched on the edge of ruin and that was quite bad enough.

At least they had real food to look forward to once more. The months of living on ration bars were over and nobody would miss them.

He found Julian already home, so had been a good day at the hospital. With the lack of doctors, Julian very often worked into the evening if there had been another rubble collapse or outbreak of some virus or bacteria.

“How was the meeting?” asked Julian, who was reading in the kitchen while something boiled on the stove. Garak would not say his husband was a gifted cook, though to be fair Cardassian ingredients were new to him, but he was improving.

“We have finally agreed on the broad categories for next year’s budget, though there’s still much disagreement over how to allocate funds for each department. I don’t know why Bantor is so insistent upon rebuilding the secondary school before the primary school, when older children are more easily taught remotely, and Tor’Dan is still obsessed with the parks… what is this?” he asked with some alarm, seeing the contents of the pot and setting aside economic debates immediately.

“Ra’ast,” replied Julian. At Garak’s look of consternation, he said, “I thought you’d appreciate not having to cook after a council meeting.”

Yes, that was undoubtedly considerate, but this? This was a travesty. Ra’ast had complex flavors which were destroyed through boiling. One did not boil ra’ast as if it was norten, oktar, or really almost any other root vegetable.

Or a Terran potato, to which Garak had heedlessly compared it not two days ago. He’d meant chopped and roasted with carefully selected herbs, but humans prepared their root vegetables in any number of strange ways, and Julian was partial to mashed potatoes for some inexplicable reason. Humans may have had superior hearing, but their taste buds were not as sensitive as Cardassian. This was a scientific fact, and probably explained why the subtleties of quality kanar were lost on humans.

“Was I not supposed to do that?” asked Julian, looking troubled. “You said they’re like potatoes, and we had mashed norten the other night so I know you eat mashed root vegetables.”

Garak set aside his unhappiness over the ruined ra’ast, to which he’d been looking forward. It was his fault, really, for not making clear the limits of his comparison, and it wasn’t reasonable to expect Julian to know the finer points of Cardassian cuisine. The man had barely cooked a day in his life before he arrived on Cardassian soil, and they’d been eating rations for most of his residence thus far.

“Norset has to be boiled to eliminate the bitter overtones,” he said. “Otherwise I don’t care to subject my root vegetables to boiling and mashing, and nobody eats ra’ast this way.” In truth, he did not particularly like norset precisely because it was boiled, but in these days one was grateful to have sufficient food and didn’t quibble over what it was.

Julian’s shoulders sagged. “Did I ruin it?”

“No,” lied Garak. “It will still be edible.”

“But not enjoyable,” finished Julian. “I’m sorry.”

Garak did not like making his husband feel poorly. “You couldn’t have known, my dear. I ought not to have compared them to your potatoes without making explicit that we don’t boil them.”

“I have a whole ludo ready to fry, and I know you enjoyed that two weeks ago.”

Yes, Garak liked the large shellfish very much, but he worried about Julian’s tendency to overcook meat. Ludo was not forgiving.

“Maybe you could show me how you do it?” suggested Julian. “I’m trying not to put all the cooking on you. I know it’s not your favorite task either.”

“You are very considerate.” Garak held up his palm and decided he was fortunate, boiled ra’ast notwithstanding, to have this man for his husband. “I have no doubt that your ability will improve as you have more chances to practice.”

“I am a fast learner,” said Julian, giving the boiling pot a guilty look.

Garak resolved to put his not inconsiderable acting skills to use faking nonchalance while forcing himself to eat mashed ra’ast.


End file.
